Summer classes, summer vacation, summer job, summer co-op… Summer is a busy time for all here at Northeastern. I took the liberty of making my summer be about liberty by attending the Young Americans for Liberty National Convention.

The event is an invite-only, four-day long conference for liberty leaders across the country to receive extensive training on how to advocate for liberty and hear from prominent figures in the movement, like Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.), Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), Judge Andrew Napolitano and even WWE’s Glenn “Kane” Jacobs. I also had the opportunity to network with other student leaders and sponsor organizations.

When I attended the event last year, I was just beginning to establish Northeastern’s YAL chapter, or YAL@NEU. This year, now that the chapter has gained official recognition on campus and blossomed into a student organization with a lot of growth potential, I was able to get even more out of the conference. Within the last few years of attending Young Americans for Liberty conferences, I have truly grown as a leader and activist.

This year’s convention was all about how to “Make Liberty Win,” which I believe encompasses the aim of Young Americans for Liberty even more so than last year’s slogan of “Be the Next,” which carries the idea that anyone in the room would be the next great leader in the movement, i.e. the next Ron Paul, the Republican representative for Texas who served from 1979 to 2013.

“Make Liberty Win” goes a step further. It stands more for the ideas we are advocating for, the change we want to see in our nation and the concept of winning on principle. There were a wide array of political philosophies represented at the convention, but it was certain that we all advocate for less government and more individual freedom.

In light of the recent vote on the Republican health care bill, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) began his speech addressing his role in killing the bill that in his words, “Simply doesn’t repeal Obamacare.” Though he is a Republican senator, having principles that transcend party allegiances was something that many of the convention’s attendees respected. With extreme partisan politics in the United States it is unfortunately uncommon to hear a voice pointing  out the possibility that both sides of the aisle could be wrong.

When it comes to the issue of health care, Paul strongly supports a market solution to drive down health costs and to empower individuals with the freedom to associate when it comes to buying insurance. What really stood out to me from his speech was his advice to us about how we can help promote liberty. He said we must arm ourselves intellectually and win the battle of ideas, which reminded all of us about why we were there.

The idea of liberty and personal freedoms is something that is so much bigger than us or our campuses. Paul reminded us that we live in the greatest meritocracy in the world, but for so many other groups of people outside of the United States, every aspect of their lives is mandated by the government. yet, somehow, America’s leaders are still inclined to progress further into the statist ideology of other nations instead of retaining the spirit of our founding fathers.

Amash carried on this theme with commentary on how much we have drifted from our country’s foundation, describing Supreme Court decisions as causing “a gradual erosion of liberty over time.” as someone who was inspired to go into politics from Ron Paul, Amash represents the new generation of liberty leaders. His message was hopeful of the future, including a call to action to advocate for liberty in a divided United States. With both sides of the political spectrum governing with an ‘ends justify the means’ outlook, people may be looking for something different. That something may just be libertarianism, with which the principles are paramount and the means do matter.

Now more than ever, there is a propensity toward the ideas of liberty, and it is so important that everyone hears it. As college students, we are on the battleground of ideas, where socialism is glorified. It is our role as young liberty-minded individuals to punch back and say that maybe we know how to live our lives better than the government.

Young Americans for Liberty at Northeastern University will resume weekly meetings on Tuesdays at 8 p.m. in Ell Hall, room 408, beginning  Sept. 19. I hope, next year, to have a stronger representation of Northeastern University at the national convention, by inspiring more members to make similar personal gains and learn more about why liberty is so important to us, not just as Americans, but as citizens of the world.

Hope to see you soon,

Aubrey Kenderdine

President of Young Americans for Liberty at Northeastern University

COS ‘18